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Optimal Pacing for Running 400 & 800 Meter [Research Paper]

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September 3, 2013 by Jimson Lee 3 Comments

Runners in 400m and 800m races are often urged to attempt to run the second half of the race at the same pace as the ?rst (even splits) on the grounds that this is the most economical distribution of energy, as no doubt it is.

However, almost no successful runners in 400m and 800m races actually do this, and the burden of this research paper mentioned below has been to try to understand why.  A simple model of entropy accumulation suggests that for any reasonable relation between entropy generation and speed, the optimal race strategy is to run the ?rst half of the race faster than the second.

Jimson’s Note: The last even-split 800m to win was probably Dave Wottle from the 1972 Olympics!  You can read more about 800m splits and differentials in this past article.

Dave Wottle 800 meters 1972 Olympics

Such a strategy causes the entropy density gradient across the boundary of the working muscle to take on a large value early in the race, which increases the entropy ef?ux.

That this is in fact the optimal race strategy is proven by the overwhelming preponderance of positive-split races in the set of world records for one-lap and two-lap races.

While there are many other factors that athletes encounter in races, such as the race tactics of other athletes, as well as psychological variables, taking into account entropy arguments suggests that even-split pacing is not optimal, even in principle, for 400m and 800m races.

See Optimal pacing for running 400- and 800-m track races, American Journal of Physics – June 2013 -  Volume 81, Issue 6, pp. 428

Written by James Reardon, Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

See also  Interview with Stuart McMillan, Bobsled and UKA Sprint Coach

(You can also download the entire research paper here – PDF 655kb)

Category icon800m-Mile,  Coaching,  Track & Field

About Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jordan says

    September 4, 2013 at 7:35 am

    Jimson, can someone please explain what the below means:
    “Such a strategy causes the entropy density gradient across the boundary of the working muscle to take on a large value early in the race, which increases the entropy efflux… “

    Reply
    • Fabien says

      September 5, 2013 at 1:34 am

      I’ll take a look at the article. First do you what entropy, and a gradient is?

      Reply
  2. Jan-Olof Fallström says

    September 12, 2013 at 1:20 am

    Olympic final 800 m 1988.
    400 Kiprotich, Barbosa, Cruz 49.5-50 Paul Ereng 51.7
    800 Ereng 1.43.4 Cruz 1.43.9
    Ereng 2x 51.7=1.43.4 Cruz 50+53.9= 1.43.9
    Best split-pacing?

    Reply

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